Sarah Palin: ‘Bill Nye Is as Much a Scientist as I Am’

WASHINGTON, April 15 (UPI) — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin slammed Bill Nye’s view on climate change, saying he does not have the scientific chops to say climate-change skeptics are wrong.

Palin, speaking Thursday after the opening screening of the anti-climate change documentary, Climate Hustle, said the popular children’s show host was nothing more than an actor and had no authority to speak about climate change.

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Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, said Nye “is using his position of authority to harm children by teaching them that climate change is real and man-made.” Nye frequently speaks about the negative effects of climate change, both on camera and during in-person appearances.

“Bill Nye is as much a scientist as I am,” Palin told the gathering. “He’s a kids’ show actor. He’s not a scientist.”

Before he was “The Science Guy,” Nye studied mechanical engineering at Cornell University and worked as a Boeing engineer. His show, Bill Nye The Science Guy, aired from 1993 to 1998 and is still popular with children. He has worked with NASA on projects that include creating a sun dial for the Mars exploration rover project, among other things. He has also written several children’s books with a focus on science.

The film Climate Hustle, created by the conservative think tank Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, seeks “to debunk the myths and hype about man-made global warming in an informative and entertaining style,” the organization said.

In a video clip of a conversation between Nye and producer Marc Morano shown after the film debuted Thursday night, Nye advocated for investigating companies and corporate leaders who have a reputation for doubting climate change.

“The introduction of this extreme doubt … about climate change is affecting my quality of life as a public citizen,” he said. “So I can see where people are very concerned about this and are pursuing criminal investigations as well engaging in discussions like this … they’re keeping us from getting to work, they’re holding us back.”

Palin responded to the clip by warning the audience to be wary of climate-change discussions because of a hidden political agenda among scientists.

“They have studied the data that they are erroneously delivering to the public to make us think that we can somehow change the weather.” she said. “How they do that is to grow government and allow the government to have more control over us, our homes, our businesses, our families, our lives, and it’s quite unfortunate because these people must be purposely doing this, right? Because they are smart enough to know better.”